Lifestyle

28 Illinois schools receive state Blue Ribbon Schools award

Illinois honored 28 schools — including 11 suburban public and private schools — with Blue Ribbon Schools awards at an event at the Governor’s Mansion. Gov. JB Pritzker established the statewide award program after President Donald Trump’s administration abolished the national equivalent. At the event, 15 public and 13 private K-12 schools received awards for academic excellence.

Seed packets can be lovely to look at and contain the promise of the gardening season, but what if you can’t make sense of the jargon on the back of the package?

A glossary to help cut through seed-packet jargon and confidently plant indoors

Plovers take center stage in College of Lake County exhibit

How to attract birds to your yard all year

Will cricket-focused eatery join Wheeling’s Restaurant Row?

America may run on Dunkin’, but RFK Jr. isn’t so sure

Marmion and Rosary students gather for a photo after plunging into icy water to raise donations to support athletes with intellectual disabilities through the Special Olympics program.

Marmion, Rosary students brave icy plunge for Special Olympics

About 60 students and faculty from Marmion Academy and Rosary High School participated in a Polar Plunge fundraiser on March 5 to support Special Olympics Illinois.

Buffalo Grove has confirmed the grocery store at The Clove will be Whole Foods.

Whole Foods coming to The Clove in Buffalo Grove

Buffalo Grove Village President Eric Smith announced Thursday Whole Foods is coming to The Clove.

Cooking chicken well can be tricky. Not so with these kebabs.

These restaurant-quality broiled chicken tikka kebabs are supremely tender and simple to make. You can let the meat marinate for up to 8 hours, though even a short rest will infuse it with flavor.

A bean seed undergoes scarification with a set of nail clippers.

Scarification: The simple seed-starting trick that helps tough-coated seeds sprout faster

The hard coating on some seeds makes it difficult for them to sprout. Scarification can help to get them started.

A group of parents are trying to stop the Archdiocese of Chicago from closing the 65-year-old St. Hubert Catholic School in Hoffman Estates and are now appealing to Pope Leo XIV after Cardinal Blase Cupich declined to intervene.

Coalition appealing to Pope Leo to save St. Hubert School in Hoffman Estates from closing

Both the local pastor and Pope Leo XIV will be asked this week to reconsider the planned closure of St. Hubert Catholic School in Hoffman Estates after the Archdiocese of Chicago formally waived its direct intervention.

Books and clothing, yes; old TV sets, no. Organizations such as Goodwill and Salvation Army have different rules about what kinds of donations they will accept. The Goodwill store in Batavia is on Randall Road.

Spring cleaning? Do’s and don’ts for dropping off items at donation centers

For those doing some spring cleaning and decluttering, here are some do’s and don’ts for donating items to organizations such as Salvation Army and Goodwill.